So guys, as for the big tournaments in 2014 and 2018 I think I open a thread to discuss the current European championship 2016 (don't know why we didn't have one in 2016 lol).

Italy vs. Turkey is a pretty interesting match for a start and one of the few games where I actually support the Italian NT

Regarding the favorites I think that France is of course the biggest one, the other big nations (England, Italy and of course us Germans) as well and the eternal "secret favorite" - Belgium (whose "Golden generation" will surely do everything to finally claim a title).
Hopefully there'll be surprises as well but tbh I can't predict who can pull of an "Island 2.0" this year

Scotland brought me plenty of joy this summer, we went in with no expectations, played our best and went home with our heads held high. Maybe that's hard to understand for a Bayern and Germany fan but football isn't just about winning, it's a lot more fun when you aren't calling your World Cup winning manager Hitler and saying he should have killed himself. Maybe if Germany gave more respect to these "shithole" countries like Hungary, South Korea, Latvia etc. then they'd have a few more trophies to cry themselves to sleep next to.

So much for been a death group with all the participating teams not passing the "4th game".

Of course professional football is about winning in the end, we're not in sunday league here. Those guys get paid big amounts of money and winning games and trophies is their way of earning this money. And especially at NT every player and also the coaching squad should give his absolute best (because it's an honor to play for your country), something that Löw, Bierhoff and some players simply didn't do for five years now.



Strange, the last time that I checked it was Hungary who didn't show respect to our NT and therefore ended up without the trophy in 1954. Even nowadays Hungary and it's players have a lot of respect here in Germany (like in the past, otherwise you wouldn't find various players from them in BL and second BL for years), the "conflict" before the match had something to do with political issues, not lack of respect.
And I have to disappoint you: Unlike others we don't cry for years about lost chances from the past, we get up again. That's exactly the professionalism that has made our country and NT so succesful and will make it succesful again.

Yesterday's games unfolded as expected. Southgate would keep his team compact again, while Löw wouldn't change his attacking approach. It was a matter of details at the end. Grealish has adopted an 'ace in the hole' role, turning up late in the game to show his qualities. England's tediousness seems to be their greatest weapon, since it's all about that winning setup I have mentioned.
At the other game I also expected a draw, concerning the odds betting companies provided. Sweden were the definite favorite, but Ukraine stood tall and nobody should say they didn't deserve to clinch that victory.

Are Italians actually wondering why their NT is considered unfair by the rest of the world? Sorry but when I see those dives of Donnarumma and that other clown in extra time, then I wonder why those guys play football and don't start an acting career. Donnarumma jumps into Chiellini, lays down for straight three minutes afterwards and Witsel gets the foul..
And before I'm misunderstood here: It's a deserved victory for Italy that could have been even higher after first half. But with that behaviour in the last 15 minutes Italy unfortunately proves that - despite those fresh attacking style of the current team - they still end up playing in the same dirty way like in the past.

Come on Italy, straight into the finals! Hopefully, they'll play against Czechs.

And I hope that in Qatar I'll have the chance to support my own country.

Very good performance but I'm really disappointed with Immobile. Hopefully he won't play the semifinal from the beginning.

Chiellini, what a legend.

Morata continues to be the weirdest player of all time lol. I've never seen a less confident striker.

Another European final. This time there's no France or Spain. We'll likely face England but let's see.

Poor Morata, he saved Oyarzabal, his stupid coach and only made the shootout possible but still he'll get the whole hate alone.
Congratulations to Italy, please finish the job on Sunday - to earn the well deserved title and also to shut up the retard English fans and media once again. Don't know what Immobile was doing today (again lol), I guess both Mancini and Vialli could play and still they'd be more effective than him.

At least I'm not the only one who thinks that. Italian commentators praise him in every match for his "wonderful" job of sacrificing for the team. I keep thinking he's playing shitty.

The only sacrifice that he brings is playing so bad that every other player of your team is looking better alongside him
Joke aside, I'm pretty disappointed with his performances in knockout stage, especially after the last two years at Lazio.

Belotti has looked better than Immobile, neither have offered any goalscoring ability but at least Belotti is a physical presence that does lots of defensive work too. All Immobile has done is lose the ball over and over again.

I think England will win the tournament. Italy lack penetration when attacking and England's defence has been unbreakable. Only problem is that I doubt England's midfield can beat Italy's as much as Spain's did tonight. They don't have a guy like Busquets that can control the game or a player like Koke that can win the physical battle while also having the ability to play great passes forward. But Italy still really don't have the level of offensive firepower England have. It's not just that England's starters are better, they can bring on guys in those positions that offer something different and are not even of a lower quality.

Of course, they still have to beat Denmark first

If England advances to the final, I don't think Italy would have no chances of scoring. Yes, England has a solid defence but Italy might try to shoot from outside the box in case there's no space to go in front of the goal. Guys like Chiesa, Insigne or Locatelli might be able to do that. On the other hand, I don't know if Italy's defence could stop England's strikers. Our side backs especially don't look that good to me.

I thought Di Lorenzo did a good job tonight but if Italy are really relying on Emerson to stop Sancho/Foden/whoever plays on the right then they are in trouble lol. With Spinazzola on the pitch I would say that Italy would easily win the tournament.

It is also important that Italy have had three very difficult knockout games with 2 of them going to 120 minutes. I don't know what the game tomorrow will look like but both Denmark and England have been able to rest with some more comfortable games.